In the seventh year of Hongwu, the legitimate eldest grandson of Zhu Yuanzhang, the great ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, was born.
He who resides as the legitimate heir will surely ascend to t...
Rubbing his temples, Zhu Yunying thought for a moment and said, "Have the princess go and keep an eye on the Wu Prince's residence. Our nephew is just like his father; he probably won't be able to stay in the residence."
"Your Majesty, yesterday the Crown Prince entered the palace to apologize, and went to the elephant stables as soon as he left the palace," Wang Chengen immediately reported. "The Crown Princes of Ying, Kaiping, and Liang also went with him."
Well, this Zhu Wengeng really knows how to 'form cliques'. This one's either his aunt's or his maternal uncle's family. He's just like his father, spending all his time hanging out with his own relatives.
Seeing Zhu Yunying's helpless expression, Wang Chengen continued, "Her Majesty the Empress specially sent a female official to accompany him, and the elephant servant in front of the Crown Prince also went."
Yes, Zhu Yunying knew about the elephant stables, and there were always tamed elephants there. As a de facto owner of the elephant stables, young Zhu also had quite a few elephant handlers. Some were tamed by the boy himself in his cleverness, while others were specially sent there by old Zhu.
When Zhu Yunying was young, he would swagger into the Zhaoyu prison with his men, bribing civil and military officials and nobles, and eyeing the Ming Dynasty's navy. By the time of the young Zhu, the elephant shed had basically been completely brought under his control.
Zhu Yunying was too lazy to say anything more, because he didn't need to give any instructions on many things; others would take care of things for him.
After thinking for a moment, Zhu Yunying said, "Summon the Prince of Zhou and the Prince of Jin to the palace. This matter should be dealt with."
Wang Chengen naturally accepted the order. Although he usually appeared to know nothing and rarely expressed any opinions or thoughts on court affairs, this did not mean he was ignorant. In fact, even the civil and military officials, members of the imperial family, and nobles of the Ming Dynasty might not know as much as Wang Chengen.
The reason is simple: he served Zhu Yunying, so he naturally knew a lot about many things.
Some time ago, Prince Zhaode, Zhu Jihuang, submitted a memorial accusing his elder brothers, Prince Jin, Zhu Jixi, and Prince Qin, Zhu Shangbing, of harboring many grievances against the emperor. These two cousins were naturally reprimanded by Zhu Yunying, who also ordered the Imperial Clan Court to investigate. In reality, however, they were dealt with leniently and without much trouble.
However, Zhu Jihuang clearly lost more than he gained; the emperor was quite magnanimous and did not punish the Prince of Jin and the Prince of Qin for these trivial matters. On the other hand, the ambitious Zhu Jihuang had a lot of dirt dug up during this period, and he was in serious trouble.
Outside the imperial city, Zhu Jixi saw Zhu Su and said, "Fifth Uncle."
"The family matters haven't been settled yet?" Zhu Su said with some disdain, "Yun Tong really stood up for you this time. His Majesty summoned us today, probably to ask you some questions. Remember, be soft-hearted when you need to be, and consider family ties when you need to. Just don't be reckless, or you'll end up hurting yourself and others."
Zhu Jixi immediately said, "The third prince has been somewhat unhappy before. Father has always favored us, which he is unhappy about. But we never expected that the third prince would do these things, and now we can't protect him."
Zhu Su glanced at Zhu Jixi but didn't say much. He hadn't even sorted out his own family affairs yet, and he also had a troublesome son. Although it seemed to be a matter for his third brother's family now, that was only because his third brother was gone, causing unrest and sibling rivalry. If he were gone, perhaps the Zhou Prince's residence would suffer the same fate.
So we should be thankful that he's still alive. And the events at the Prince of Jin's residence have served as a reminder that he needs to make arrangements for the Prince of Zhou's residence in advance, and that he needs to keep his sons in line so that they don't end up looking foolish and causing losses to the Prince of Zhou's lineage.
The uncle and nephew chatted as they walked, and they naturally knew why the emperor had summoned them to the palace. They also had a plan for handling such matters.
This naturally means there's nothing to worry about, and we can calmly deal with any situations that may arise next.
Those born into imperial families are rarely without cunning. Especially when their own status is at stake, they are unlikely to be merciful, and even brothers will not show fraternal affection at such times.
Unless one is like the Prince of Wu, who clearly lacks ambition, only those can truly be favored by the emperor. Moreover, he is the emperor's own brother, a child the emperor watched grow up.
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